Having had many dogs over the years, I have never found an efficient and hygienic device to aide in retrieving solid waste from the dog. All too often, dog waste can be found littering the streets, sidewalks, playgrounds, parks, and even on one's private property. We believe that this problem is becoming more widespread as the pet population is booming. It is our opinion that this is the case because pet owners find it distasteful to scoop up or shovel solid waste into a bag or other receptacle. We have made countless trips to the pet stores in search of the perfect waste retrieval system. To date, we have only found devices that scoop with a bivalve rake and bin mechanism or bags with a cardboard edge enabling one to scoop the waste that has already hit the ground. Also, there are those bags that one places his hand into and retrieves the stool manually in this inverted bag technique. These methods of waste collection are time consuming, cumbersome, inefficient, and most of all allow the ground to be contaminated with waste since the waste is deposited directly to ground and then removed. Therefore, these systems will likely leave residue on the ground and possibly on one's hand while trying to scoop the waste.
Currently, we own a Mastiff weighing approximately 185 pounds, As he has grown, so have the size of his stools. Over the past three years that we have owned this dog, we have finally developed a one piece system for waste retrieval that is easy to use, efficient, not embarrassing for the dog walker to use, and eliminates the problem of stool touching the ground before the stool is retrieved. This device is placed beneath the squatting dog as he defecates, thereby, retrieving the stool directly.
Since we have developed our prototype, we have researched whether other devices such as this have been designed as we have never seen one in a pet supply store. We have found that other devices have been designed such as Cassidy's U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,831, Travis' U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,067, Pezzino's U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,779, Hemans' U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,871, Ines' U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,924, Kwok's U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,411, and Jensen's U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,129. However, each of these devices are complicated by the design of multiple parts that in some way are mechanical and, in our opinion, make these designs impractical for consistent daily use. Our device is simple in design, environmentally responsible, economic making this device one that one will happily use while walking one's dog. Our device will improve compliance with laws that mandate the removal of waste and help to foster a better relationship between pet owners and the rest of the community.